Lisa Marie Varon
| birth_place = San Bernadino, California | death_place = | death_date = | resides = Louisville, Kentucky | billed = Los Angeles, California | trainer = Mike Bell Tom Howard | debut = June 2000 | retired = |}} Lisa Marie Varon (née Sole; born February 10, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, former bodybuilder and fitness competitor. Varon is best known for her time in World Wrestling Entertainment under the ringname Victoria where she is a former two-time WWE Women's Champion and most recently in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ringname Tara. Varon started competing in fitness competitions and won ESPN2's Fitness America Series in 1997. In 1999, she placed second at a fitness event in New York to earn her International Federation of BodyBuilders Professional Fitness Card. Through a chance meeting, Varon met World Wrestling Federation (WWF) performer Chyna who encouraged her to become a wrestler. She trained in the WWF's developmental territories for three years before being moved to the main roster to compete full-time under the ring name Victoria. Her first TV appearance was at WrestleMania 2000 as one of The Godfather's Hos. She debuted in June 2002, four months later she was pushed to win the WWE Women's Championship, a title she held twice in her wrestling career. In TNA she is a five-time TNA Women's Knockout Champion making her a seven-time Women's Champion overall. She is also a one-time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion with Brooke Tessmacher, as TnT. Early life Varon was born in San Bernardino, California. She attended Eisenhower High School in Rialto, California. During high school, she was active in cheerleading, a sport she competed in since the sixth grade. During her senior year in high school, she was nationally recognized by the National Cheerleading Association, earning an All-American award for cheerleading and being chosen to cheer at half-time of the NFL Pro Bowl, alongside 70 other women. Varon participated in track and field events in the ninth grade. After graduation, she studied biology at the University of California, Los Angeles and medicine at Redlands, California, where she was involved in the process of organ donation. Bodybuilding and fitness competition Still working at the eye and tissue bank, Varon became a personal trainer and taught aerobics. While training at a gym, she was offered an opportunity to compete in a bodybuilding competition, a contest she won as a middleweight. She competed in fitness competitions, such as ESPN2's Fitness America Series in 1997 and 1998, winning the former, and the Miss Galaxy Competition in 1998, where she met and befriended Torrie Wilson. After Wilson moved to Los Angeles, California and signed with professional wrestling promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW), she invited Varon to one of the shows. While backstage, an agent asked her to appear in a segment with Scott Hall. Through Wilson, Varon unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a contract with WCW. She later moved to Los Angeles to find work in televised news fitness segments instead. In 1999, she earned her International Federation of BodyBuilders Professional Fitness Card after placing second at the National Physique Committee Team Universe show in New York. It was during her time working in fitness competitions that Varon also first met Trish Stratus. Professional wrestling career World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (2000–2009) Training and debut (2000–2001) After moving to Los Angeles, Varon worked as a trainer at the gym Crunch Fitness, where she met World Wrestling Federation wrestler Chyna, who complimented Varon on her appearance and encouraged her to become a wrestler. Varon put together a biography package and sent it to the WWF. She heard from Kevin Kelly two days later, who asked her for an interview in a month's time. With no previous wrestling experience, she looked up professional wrestling schools on the internet and trained at Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) in Southern California in June 2000. She wrestled under the ring name Head Bitch In Charge (HBIC) and appeared in a cheerleading outfit, with a snooty gimmick similar to WCW Nitro Girl Miss Hancock. She impressed WWE talent scout Bruce Pritchard during her first UPW show. Varon made her on-screen debut in the WWF portraying one of The Godfather's hos. She was referred to as the "head ho" and led the "Save the Hos" campaign. On the August 7 episode of Raw, Varon took a bump by being thrown through a table by The Godfather's next persona, The Goodfather. After this, she was given the name Victoria. She was removed from television in November and sent to WWF's developmental territory Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW) for extensive training. Victoria briefly acted as the commissioner for MCW and was involved in storyline feuds with Stacy Carter and Ivory. She also managed Steve Bradley before MCW closed. Varon later moved to Louisville, Kentucky to train in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) using the ring name Queen Victoria. She was placed as the manager of the tag team the Basham Brothers and managed one of the team members, Doug Basham, to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship on July 25, 2001. Women's Champion and alliance with Stevie Richards (2002–2004) Varon returned to the renamed World Wrestling Entertainment as Victoria on the July 7, 2002 episode of Sunday Night Heat in an angle with WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus, who Victoria claimed betrayed her when they worked together as fitness models. The storyline had her character become a demented, sadistic villain as she and Stratus feuded for months. At Survivor Series, Victoria was booked to defeat Stratus in a Hardcore match to win the Women's Championship for the first time. After a successful title defense against Stacy Keibler defeating her with her debut of her finisher the Widows Peak the next night on Raw, Victoria was attacked in the ring by Stratus. Steven Richards came to her rescue, starting an on-screen relationship between Victoria and Richards. Victoria continued to feud with Stratus into 2003, competing against her in successful title defenses and tag team matches during which Victoria teamed with Richards. At WrestleMania XIX, Victoria dropped the Women's Title back to Stratus during a Triple Threat match that also included Jazz. Throughout the rest of the year, Victoria was involved in matches against other Divas, such as participating in a Fatal Four-Way match for the Women's Title at Judgment Day and defeating Lita in the first women's steel cage match in WWE history on November 24. Victoria also defeated Ivory in a number one contender's match for the Women's Title on the last edition for Sunday Night Heat of 2003. After the match, Women's Champion Molly Holly struck Victoria in the head with the title belt. The next week on Raw, Victoria became a fan favorite when she attacked Holly after the two women were placed in a team, along with Miss Jackie, for a six woman Happy Holidays tag team match. During her face run she began wearing hippie shorts and performed a gyrating moonsault. The angle with Holly continued into the next year, with Victoria defeating Holly in tag team matches. On February 23, 2004, Victoria was booked to defeat Holly, Lita and Jazz in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match to win her second Women's Title. After defeating Holly in a tag team match the next week, Victoria was challenged by Holly to a rematch for the title at WrestleMania XX, which later became a Hair vs Title match. At the pay-per-view, Victoria won the match and shaved Holly's head bald. She kept the Women's Championship until June 13, when she dropped the title to Trish Stratus during a Fatal Four-Way match at Bad Blood and subsequently lost a rematch a week later. After defeating Molly Holly at Vengeance to become the number one contender, Victoria lost a match to Stratus at Unforgiven. Prior to Unforgiven, several of Victoria's matches were interrupted by a mysterious person in drag, who was later revealed to be Steven Richards, with whom she was previously allied. After the match with Stratus, the storyline culminated when Richards challenged Stratus' ally Tyson Tomko to a match, which Richards lost. Vince's Devils (2005–2006) On May 30, 2005, Victoria participated in a swimsuit competition, losing to Christy Hemme. Following the loss, the storyline had Victoria become a villain by attacking the other contestants, as well as host Jerry Lawler, claiming that she had enough of the attention Hemme was receiving. The two engaged in a short feud which ended at Vengeance in a match that Victoria won. Continuing with her villainous persona, Victoria was placed in an angle alongside Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson (collectively known as the Ladies in Pink and later Vince's Devils) on August 29, portraying the role of the group's enforcer, as the three women joined forces against the 2005 Diva Search winner Ashley Massaro. Massaro was assisted in the storyline feud by Trish Stratus, and at Unforgiven, Victoria and Wilson were defeated by Stratus and Massaro. The angle continued into WWE Homecoming, where the Ladies in Pink lost a Handicap Bra and Panties match to Stratus and Massaro. On the March 6, 2006 episode of Raw, Victoria and Candice turned on Wilson during Candice's Playboy cover unveiling, starting an angle between the former teammates. A scheduled match was set to take place at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event on the March 18 edition with Victoria and Candice against Wilson and Stratus. As part of the storyline, however, on the episode of Raw prior to the event, Wilson was found unconscious with the implication being that Victoria and Candice had attacked her. The match eventually took place on March 27 with Victoria and Candice being defeated. The alliance of Victoria and Candice fell apart during a tag team match on July 17, in which Victoria and Mickie James were defeated by Wilson and Stratus, with Candice as the guest referee. SmackDown! and departure (2007–2009) Victoria was given a character push on November 27 after she was booked to win a number one contender's Divas battle royal. She gained notoriety from the match when it was reported that her kick to Candice Michelle's face resulted in a legitimate broken nose that required surgery. Following the victory, the angle had her carry a checklist to the ring which contained the names of other Divas. Each week she checked a name off the list after defeating them in matches. She also defeated Women's Champion Mickie James in a non-title match. Victoria lost the championship match at New Year's Revolution and a rematch on January 15, 2007. On June 17, Victoria was moved to the SmackDown brand as part of the WWE Draft. She became involved in an on-screen relationship with Kenny Dykstra, and the duo was placed in feuds against Torrie Wilson and Jimmy Wang Yang, as well as Michelle McCool and Chuck Palumbo. While on a tour of Europe with WWE in December 2007, Varon claimed to have legitimately broken McCool's nose. She later allied herself with her "best friend" Natalya. In October and November 2008, Victoria found herself on the losing end of matches with the debuting Brie Bella, when Bella disappeared under the ring during matches and reappeared seemingly "refreshed," eventually revealed to be Brie swapping places with twin sister Nikki Bella. On January 13, 2009, at a SmackDown! taping (aired January 16, 2009), however, it was announced she would be retiring. She lost to Michelle McCool. She dedicated her final match to the United States Armed Forces. She was in tears while announcing her retirement and departure from WWE. After leaving WWE, she began training for a career in mixed martial arts and practiced Jiu Jitsu. She returned to WWE for one night in April 2009, when she was part of the 25 Divas battle royal at WrestleMania XXV, outlasting the five other former WWE divas, before being eliminated by The Bella Twins. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2009-2013) Debut and Knockouts Champion (2009–2010) On May 24, 2009, it was officially confirmed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) that Varon had signed a contract with the company. She debuted on the May 28, 2009 edition of TNA Impact! under the ring name Tara, later revealed to be short for "Tarantula". She made her intentions known by attacking The Beautiful People (Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, and Madison Rayne) after Angelina Love's match with Sojournor Bolt, making her a fan favorite. On the June 11 episode of Impact!, Tara won her first match against Madison Rayne. On the July 1 edition of Impact! Tara began bringing a tarantula with her to the ring, after winning a tag team match against The Beautiful People, she put the spider on the unconscious body of Velvet Sky. On the July 9 edition of Impact!, after Tara threatened to put her spider on Sky once again, Angelina Love agreed to put her TNA Women's Knockout Championship on the line which Tara ultimately won. She lost the title back to Love two weeks later at Victory Road. On September 24 on Impact! she teamed with ODB to challenge for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship against champions Sarita and Taylor Wilde but they lost after Awesome Kong interrupted and distracted her during the bout. During the following two weeks of Impact! Kong and Tara both received one-on-one Women's Knockout Championship matches from ODB, but both of them ended up losing after the other interfered in the match. At Bound for Glory ODB defeated both Kong and Tara in a three-way match to retain her title. During the match Tara was confronted by Mixed Martial Artist Kim Couture to set up an MMA fight between the two, which, however, never came to fruition. At Turning Point, Tara defeated Kong in a Six Sides of Steel match. On November 26, Tara won a ten knockout battle royal to earn herself a shot at ODB's Championship at Final Resolution. On December 20 at Final Resolution she defeated ODB to win the Women's Knockout Championship for the second time. On the January 4 edition of Impact! Tara lost the title back to ODB. Two weeks later at Genesis, Tara defeated ODB in a two out of three falls match to regain the title, making her a three-time champion. On February 18, 2010 edition of Impact!, Tara defeated Daffney via disqualification, after she hit her with a toolbox. At Destination X, Tara successfully defended her title against Daffney, who after the match stole Poison from her. On the March 29 edition of Impact!, Tara retained her title against Daffney for the second time, this time in the first ever female First Blood match. On the April 5 edition of Impact!, Tara was one of the four winners in an eight Knockout Lockbox match. The box she opened contained her pet tarantula, Poison, whom she regained from Daffney, but at the same time, she lost the Knockouts Championship to Angelina Love. At Lockdown, Tara and Love were defeated by Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky in a tag team steel cage match for all of the Knockouts championships, with Rayne pinning Tara to become the new Knockouts Champion. After the match ended, Tara turned into a villainess by attacking Love inside the cage. Alliance with Madison Rayne (2010–2011) On April 28, 2010, Varon announced on her MySpace blog that she would be leaving TNA the following month, after refusing to re-sign with the company, due to not receiving a pay increase. On the May 3 edition of Impact! Tara challenged Madison Rayne to a match at Sacrifice, where she would put her career on the line against Rayne's Knockouts Championship. At the PPV, Tara failed in her last attempt to win the Knockouts Championship, when she was defeated by Rayne and as a result her TNA career came to an end. After her TNA career came to a halt, she continued to discuss a new contract with Dixie Carter. Tara returned to the company on July 11 at Victory Road as a heel, hiding behind a motorcycle helmet and attacking Angelina Love during her match for the Women's Knockout Championship. In the following weeks, she aligned herself with Rayne against Love and Velvet Sky. On the September 2 edition of Impact!, the evil Tara finally unmasked after she and Rayne defeated Love and Sky in a tag team match, after hitting Sky with the motorcycle helmet. On the September 30 edition of Impact! Rayne signed a waiver to allow Tara to return to the ring, after losing a Title vs. Career match, which was supposed to end her TNA career. At Bound for Glory, Tara defeated Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, and Madison Rayne in a Four Corners match to win the Knockout Championship for the fourth time, much to the dismay of Rayne, who thought Tara's intention was to help her regain the title. At the following day's tapings of Impact!, Tara laid down for Rayne and let her pin her to win the Women's Knockout Championship, giving her the shortest title reign in the title's history. The following week, Tara attacked Mickie James after her victory over Sarita. At Turning Point, Tara wrestled Mickie James to a double disqualification after James pushed the referee, and they began brawling. On the December 2nd Impact!, Tara attacked Mickie James while she was singing her single "Hardcore Country", which led to Mickie attacking her when she accompanied Madison Rayne to the ring. At Final Resolution, Tara defeated Mickie James in a Falls Count Anywhere match, following interference from Madison Rayne. On the following edition of Impact! James defeated Tara in a Steel Cage match. During the match Tara legitimately tore a ligament in her elbow, but the injury would not require surgery. On the December 16 edition of Impact! Tara and Rayne defeated James and Ms. Tessmacher to make it to the finals of a tournament for the vacated TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship. The following week they were defeated in the finals by the team of Angelina Love and Winter. In 2011, Rayne would start a rivalry with Mickie James over the Women's Knockout Championship, and would successfully defend the title against her at Genesis and Against All Odds, both times after interference from Tara. During the feud Tara started to claim that Rayne had gone too far in her brutality towards James, but was forced to follow her orders due to being under exclusive contract with her and not TNA. After Rayne lost her title to James at Lockdown, James agreed to give her a rematch for it on the condition that if she is unable to regain the title, Tara would be released from her contract with Rayne. On May 15 at Sacrifice, Tara turned on Rayne during her match with James, costing her the Women's Knockout Championship and guaranteeing herself a release from her contract with Rayne. Teaming and Feuding with Miss Tessmacher (2011–2013) Tara and Rayne had their first match against each other since the break–up of their partnership on the May 19 edition of Impact Wrestling, where Tara teamed with Mickie James and Ms. Tessmacher against Rayne, Sarita and Rosita. Tara won the match for her team by pinning Rosita, after Rayne, who avoided her former partner throughout the match, sacrificed her in order to get away from the ring. Tara and Rayne faced each other in a singles match on the July 14 edition of Impact Wrestling, where Tara was victorious after distracting Rayne with her tarantula. At the tapings of the July 21 edition of Impact Wrestling, Tara and Ms. Tessmacher defeated Mexican America (Rosita and Sarita) to win the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship. With the win, Tara became one of nine TNA Knockouts (along with Angelina Love, Awesome Kong, ODB, Madison Rayne, Velvet Sky, Winter, Taylor Wilde and Gail Kim) to have held both the Knockouts Championship and Knockouts Tag Team Championship. Tessmacher and Tara made their first title defense on August 7 at Hardcore Justice, defeating Mexican America in a rematch. On the September 29 edition of Impact Wrestling, Tara was defeated by her former partner Madison Rayne in a match to determine the third and final challenger for the Women's Knockout Championship at Bound for Glory. On the November 3 edition of Impact Wrestling, Tara and Tessmacher, now billed as TnT, lost the Knockouts Tag Team Championship to Gail Kim and Madison Rayne. On the January 26, 2012 edition of Impact Wrestling, Tara defeated Mickie James and Velvet Sky in a three-way match to earn a match for the Women's Knockout Championship. On February 12 at Against All Odds, Tara was unsuccessful in her title challenge against Gail Kim. On the August 23 episode of Impact Wrestling, Tara defeated Knockouts Champion Miss Tessmacher in a non-title match, and was subsequently named the #1 Contender for her title. On September 9 at No Surrender, Tara failed in her title challenge against Tessmacher. On the September 13 episode of Impact Wrestling, Tara turned into a villainess by attacking Tessmacher, officially ending TnT. On the September 27 episode of Impact Wrestling, Tara defeated ODB in a #1 Contender's Match to earn another shot at Miss Tessmacher's Knockouts Championship. On October 14 at Bound for Glory, Tara defeated Tessmacher to win the Knockouts Championship for a record-tying fifth time. Afterwards, Tara introduced her "Hollywood boyfriend", the debuting Jessie Godderz. Tara made her first successful title defense on the October 25 episode of Impact Wrestling, ''defeating Tessmacher in a rematch following interference from Jesse. On November 11 at Turning Point, Tara and Jeese were defeated by ODB and Eric Young in a mixed tag team match. On December 9 at Final Resolution, Tara successfully defended the Knockouts Championship against Mickie James after a distraction from Jesse. On the December 20 episode of ''Impact Wrestling, Tara defeated James to retain the title. Tara went on to successfully defend the title again on January 25, 2013 episode of Impact Wrestling, ''defeating Velvet Sky. Two days later at the January 27 episode of ''Impact Wrestling ''in London, England, Tara lost the TNA Knockouts Championship to Velvet Sky in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match, also involving Gail Kim and Miss Tessmacher, ending her reign at 104 days. Tara received her rematch on the February 28 episode of ''Impact Wrestling, but was again defeated by Sky. Tara was released from her TNA contract on July 16, 2013. Tara was shown on the Knockouts Knockdown PPV on September 6, 2013 (taped in March), competing in a victorious outing against Mia Yim. Family Wrestling Entertainment (2011–present) Tara took part of Family Wrestling Entertainment's FWE: Fallout pay-per-view on November 15, 2011, defeating Madison Rayne with Christy Hemme as the special guest referee. Tara returned to the promotion on February 25, 2012, taking part of a tournament to determinate the inaugural FWE Women's Champion at FWE: No Limits, losing to Maria Kanellis. Tara then helped Maria defeat Winter to win the championship alongside her partner Miss Tessmacher. Personal life Varon has a Puerto Rican father who is a Vietnam veteran and a Turkish mother who was a singer in Japan. She grew up with three older brothers, all of whom became amateur wrestlers, with the oldest brother, Bobby Sole, winning a gold medal at the 1983 Pan American Games. In an interview for the Sun-Sentinel, Varon was quoted as saying she was legitimately jealous of the 2004 WWE Diva Search winner Christy Hemme. She retracted the statement on her website, claiming the reporter had twisted her words when she mentioned that she was jealous of Hemme's paycheck, as it was a lot higher than what Varon received in her rookie year. Varon has made guest appearances on television shows V.I.P. and Nikki, as well as participated in two fitness competitions for the Univision program Sábado Gigante. She owned a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky called Fat Tony's Pizzeria, but sold it in May 2007. She has since moved on to her next business venture, with the opening of her custom car shop Black Widow Customs on May 22, 2008 in Louisville. Varon has a tattoo of a heart on her ankle, which she got in high school and hid from her parents. She is a fan of motorcycles and owns a Suzuki Hayabusa. Quotes On the WWE women's locker room: In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''Black Widow''(Sitout inverted front powerslam) – 2004 **''Widow's Peak'' (Gory neckbreaker) *'Signature moves' **''A-rack-nophobia'' (Argentine backbreaker rack drop) – 2008 **Bridging reverse chinlock **Hair-pull Gory special **Moonsault, sometimes while standing **One-handed cartwheel followed into a hammerlock **Slingshot somersault leg drop **Snap suplex **''Spider's Web'' (Fireman's carry into a swinging sidewalk slam) **Superkick *'Wrestlers managed' **Damaja **Doug Basham **Stevie Richards **Cody Runnels **Seth Skyfire **Kenny Dykstra **Natalya **Christy Hemme **'Madison Rayne' *'Nicknames' **"The Vicious Vixen" *'Entrance music' **"All the Things She Said" by t.A.T.u. (WWE; December 2002–May 2004) **"Don't Mess With" performed by The Hood$tars (WWE; June 2004–May 2005) **"Don't Mess With (WWE Remix)" performed by The Hood$tars (WWE; May 2005–January 2009) **'"Broken"' by Goldy Locks (TNA; June 2009–May 2010) **"Angel On My Shoulder" by Dale Oliver (TNA; September 2010–present) *'Tag teams and stables' **Vince's Devils with Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson Championships and accomplishments Cheerleading *'National Cheerleading Association' **NCA All-American Award Fitness and figure competition *'Debbie Kruck Fitness Classic' **1st (Tall Class; 1999) *'ESPN2 Fitness America Series' **1st place (1997) **2nd place (1998) *'Lifequest Triple Crown' **Top 20 (1997) *'National Physique Committee' **NPC Inland Empire – 1st (MW; 1995) **NPC Team Universe – 2nd (Tall Class; 1999) *'Women's Tri-Fitness' **Ironwoman Tri-Fitness – 4th (1998) Professional wrestling *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI Woman of the Year (2004) **PWI ranked her #12 in the 2008 PWI Top 50 Females **PWI ranked her #'5' of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2009 **PWI ranked her #8 in the 2013 PWI Top 50 Females *'Total Nonstop Action Wrestling' **TNA Women's Knockout Championship (5 times) **TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brooke Tessmacher *'World Wrestling Entertainment' **WWE Women's Championship (2 times) Luchas de Apuestas External links *TNA profile *Black Widow Customs, a custom car shop owned by Victoria *Victoria Official Myspace *Victoria profile at CAGEMATCH.net Category:1971 births Category:American wrestlers Category:Female wrestlers Category:Memphis Championship Wrestling alumni Category:Ohio Valley Wrestling alumni Category:Ultimate Pro Wrestling alumni Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni Category:TNA Women's Knockout Champions Category:2000 debuts Category:TNA Knockout Tag Team Champions Category:WWE Women's Champions Category:Bodybuilders Category:Former fitness competitors Category:California wrestlers Category:Total Nonstop Action Wrestling alumni Category:Managers and valets Category:Family Wrestling Entertainment alumni